Lawmaker pitches plan to start high school later in the morning

Research that emerged in the late 1990s shows teenagers' biological clocks don't mesh well with early wake-up calls.

By Linda Trimblelinda.trimble@news-jrnl.com

Alarm clocks could need resetting all across Volusia County if a Panhandle lawmaker gets enough other legislators to support his recently filed bill to delay high school starting times until 8 a.m. or later.State Rep. Matt Gaetz said the change — which would see Volusia high schools starting and ending classes at least a half hour later than they do now — is needed to increase student achievement in the Sunshine State. “One hundred percent of the scientific evidence proves adolescents have a higher cognitive function later in the morning,” the Fort Walton Beach Republican said.Local school officials, teachers and students aren't as sure a schedule change would boost achievement significantly and said it would trigger side effects affecting everything from high school sports to younger students' class schedules and the ability of teens to find after-school work.Flagler's two public high schools already start classes at 8 a.m. Pushing back start times for Volusia high schools would likely force schedule changes for neighboring elementary and middle schools that share the same buses, said Superintendent Margaret Smith. That could mean more younger students waiting for school buses in the dark at certain times of the year.“If we change the high school schedule, we would have to either increase the number of buses and drivers or change times for other schools,” Smith said. The extra transportation expenses, she added, “would be a cost to us we couldn't absorb.”Gaetz is used to hearing that argument. “If local school districts are so caught up in the bus schedule they cannot see the forest for the trees, I think the state has the responsibility to set guidelines,” he said. “At what point does the bus ride become more important than what happens at the school?”He and his supporters are relying on a body of research that started emerging in the late 1990s showing teenagers' biological clocks don't mesh well with early wake-up calls. The researchers say melatonin — a hormone that helps regulate sleep patterns — generally doesn't reach high enough levels in most adolescents to produce sleepiness until about 11 p.m. and doesn't fall sufficiently for them to be fully awake and alert until about 8 a.m.“If you snatch them out of bed to catch a bus at 5:30 a.m., they still have a high melatonin level and cannot wake up,” said Dr. Eleanor McCain, a Fort Walton Beach physician who's been campaigning for later school start times for years and supports Gaetz' bill. “These are not lazy teens. This is biological fact.”Smith, the Volusia superintendent, has reviewed that research but said it doesn't match up with what she sees in local schools. “If you walk into our schools in the morning, the students are very much active and you see energy and enthusiasm,” she said. “You always have some students, regardless of which grade level, who appear sleepy.”Matanzas High School Principal Chris Pryor hasn't noticed any difference between students who now start classes at 8 a.m. compared with those who used to begin their day at 7:15 a.m. The Flagler School Board shaved 45 minutes off the middle and high school day two years ago to save money.“I think kids are going to adapt to whatever we throw at them,” Pryor said, “but they probably appreciate sleeping later.” Student opinions on school start times are mixed, according to interviews with randomly selected teens at Spruce Creek High School.“Doing this routine for so long, you kind of get used to it,” said senior Dominique King. “I do feel class starts too early, but it gives me time to do things (after school) that I need to do.”The starting time is “fine where it is,” said junior Tyler Simmons. “I wouldn't want it to start any later because we would get out later.”Sophomore Julia Spreng “wholeheartedly” supports Gaetz' plan. “In the morning, teachers and students are both wiped out,” said the Ormond Beach teen who rises at 5 a.m. to get to class on time.Meanwhile, some high school athletic directors worry later start and dismissal times would make it difficult to fit in after-school sports practices they need on unlighted fields when daylight hours are shorter in the winter. They also worry about what time athletes would be getting home from weeknight games if they get out of school later. Some don't get home until 11 p.m. now and still have homework to finish.Other teens are finding excuses to stay up late and shorten their sleep time, said Staci Hahn, athletic director at University High in Orange City. “I hear all the time they're using social media and playing video games until the wee hours of the morning,” she said. “It's a matter of self-discipline and routine.”DeLand High reading teacher Janice Parounagian finds her students adjusting to the early class start pretty easily. “I've got sleepy kids the first few weeks, but then it's fine,” she said.Some teachers see groggy students in their first-period classes as a challenge. “You always will have some students coming in sleepy or right out of the shower,” said Rob Wall, who teaches Advanced Placement social studies at New Smyrna Beach High. “It's my job to get them up and excited.”

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